• R Abraham, H L Karamanoukian, M R Jajkowski, K von Fricken, G D'Ancona, J Bergsland, and T A Salerno.
• State University of New York at Buffalo, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Kaleida Health-Buffalo General Hospital, Buffalo, New York 14203, USA.
• Heart Surg Forum. 2001 Jan 1; 4 (2): 135-40.

BackgroundThe adverse effects of diabetes mellitus on the coronary circulation and the higher incidence of cardiovascular events in diabetic patients are well documented [Johnson 1982]. Improvements in myocardial protection, revascularization techniques, and anesthetic management have had favorable impacts on coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) outcome in diabetic patients. Despite that, diabetic patients are significantly more likely to have a prior history of myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, and hypertension, as well as having a significantly greater baseline serum creatinine. The aim of our study was to record, compare, and analyze the stroke rate among patients with a history of preoperative diabetes undergoing "off-pump" CABG (OPCAB) with conventional cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) CABG to determine whether the stroke rate in this higher risk population could be decreased by off-pump techniques.MethodsThe records of 1,227 patients with a pre-operative history of diabetes undergoing conventional CABG (973 patients, 79.3%) using cardiopulmonary bypass and off-pump CABG 254 (20.7%) were analyzed from 1995 through 1999. There were no differences in age, sex, or elective/urgent status of patients. Preoperative risk factors (gender distribution, carotid disease, ejection fraction, CHF, hypertension, previous MI) were identical in both groups. The goal of the operations were complete revascularization, which was achieved via median sternotomy in both groups.ResultsOur reported series reveals a stroke rate of 3.6% in the CPB group and 1.2% in the off-pump group. This evidence alone was not statistically significant, but two other high-risk criteria for stroke, re-do CABG and calcified aortas, revealed that the off-pump series had a higher percentage of each (26.4% redos in off-pump vs. 8.7% CPB redos, p < 0.005; 7.1% calcified aorta cases in the off-pump group vs. 2.9% in the CPB group, p < 0.004). The threefold reduction in stroke may be clinically significant in light of the higher-risk profile of the off-pump group. The limitations of this study are that it was retrospective, there were a small number of events, and different surgeons were involved in the two different approaches to these patients.ConclusionsImprovements in myocardial protection, revascularization techniques, and anesthetic management have made significant, favorable impacts on CABG outcome in diabetic patients. New diagnostic and therapeutic strategies must be developed to lessen the medical and economic implications of stroke. A larger series or a more effective way of analyzing preoperative risk may well have shown a statistically significant difference in the stroke incidence given the differences in preoperative risk factors/stroke predictors. Until such advances occur, a threefold reduction of stroke incidence using OPCAB certainly makes this technique a favorable one for high-risk diabetics requiring coronary revascularization.

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